Today I weighed in at 171lbs. It is nice to see that my vegan bulking diet is working. I have worked some new supplements into my diet, including ZMA, L-Glutamine, BSN Hyper fx and Amino x.

My new workout routine is going to be completely focused on the following barbell and bodyweight exercises:

1 - Deadlift and Bench Press

2 - Clean and/or Jerk and Dip/Weighted Dip

3 - Full Range Squat and Pullup/weighted pullups

Today obviously I worked on my deadlifts and bench press. I felt really strong at the bench today and set a new 1 rep max at 210lbs. My back is still extremely sore from my last set of deadlifts on Sunday, so I lowered the weight today and really focused on proper form and utilizing my leg muscles during this lift.

During the past couple months I have started to slack off on abdominal exercises, so I did some leg raises today. From now on I will do ab work at the end of every workout.

Today I met up with champion vegan bodybuilder Ed Bauer at his new training studio Plantfit in SE Portland. We measured my bodyfat percentage, went over my nutrition and training program, set goals and practiced some lifts to make sure I maintain proper form. I learned a new exercise called the clean, which I incorporated into today's workout.

Weighed in at 170lbs with 10.28% bodyfat. Had a solid workout and left the gym with a great pump. Learned a new motion called the clean. I need to practice my clean and make sure I am maintaining proper form before I work in the jerk and/or press motions.

Weighed in at 171lbs. Did squats today with a little stool to keep form. With every repetition I would actually sit on the stool for 2 seconds before coming back to a standing position. This workout destroyed me. For the past six months I have been doing squats completely wrong, so it is going to take a lot of time and work to get comfortable squatting heavier weight.

I did chin ups today with added weight for the first time. I could only manage 5 reps with the added weight, and it will be a goal of mine to improve this over the next month.

Weighed in today at 172lbs. Today I focused completely on my arms and getting full contraction with each rep for each exercise. The result I got from today's workout was a pump like I have never experienced before. My arms really felt like they were going to explode after the first 2 exercises and by the end of the workout I could barely feel my arms at all!

I didn't have money to pay my member dues at the gym, so this week I'm going to be working out from home. The only equipment I have is a makeshift 50lb barbell, a jump rope, the playground across the street and my own imagination. This is what I did today:

No access to a scale for weigh in. Got a great pump from today's workout. My makeshift barbell broke while doing rows. The shorter length of the bar is much more stable now. Although pretty week for big lifts like squats, bench and deadlifts, the little barbell is great for my isolation movements. I'm starting to see a lot of improvement in my biceps. 3 different people complimented my "guns" this week.

High five self.

Although not having access to my gym is quite a set back, I am going to make the most of it finding new ways to exercise at home. It was fun running outside and doing my pull ups and dips in the park while the snow came down. I should have gotten pictures of that.

He has a great studio doesn't he? I've trained there 3 times so far, on days I pass through Portland amidst my travels.

I still admire your bodybuilding approach, work ethic and consistency. I resonate with it because bodybuilding is the aspect of fitness that I always connected with the most. I'm semi-retired now, haven't competed since 2009 and have been recovering from injuries but I love watching the younger generation of vegan bodybuilders rise up.

Meeting with Ed was awesome! He really helped me polish my form on squats, deadlifts and cleans. Ed suggested I incorporate more variety of nuts and seeds into my diet. I'll be doing some serious shopping in the bulk aisle come payday. His studio is really coming together and I think he has a great approach to training.

You know I have never been very athletic and led a pretty unhealthy lifestyle for the longest time. I never liked being a skinny vegan, so I gave up and ate meat again for years and the only lbs I gained were around my waist. Bodybuilding got me on the path to a healthy lifestyle, and when I started seeing results I couldn't turn back and I started working harder. It seems kind of odd that bodybuilding brought me back to veganism, but that is exactly what happened. The more I read on nutrition, the harder it became for me to convince myself that animal products were doing anything for anyone but harm.

I saw you speak at Vegfest last year, and your story of how you went from a skinny kid to a champion bodybuilder really did inspire me. Even though you are semi retired now, I think what you are doing with your book and the website is incredibly important.

I have a lot of progress to make. If I was featured on the website that would really be something... I'll put that away in my mind as some extra motivation.

That is awesome to hear, Sage! So glad meeting Ed was productive. He's a super positive guy, ripped and a great bodybuilder, who's also pretty strong and incredibly hard working.

Also, outstanding to hear that bodybuilding brought you back to veganism! That is fantastic!

I hope to not be semi-retired and really want to get back on stage. I meant to last year, just didn't work out with a few injuries. I'm back at it now, smaller than I'd like to be, the determination is there.

Thanks for coming to hear my talk in Portland. That was fun.

All the best! Keep working hard and having fun.

You'll have some extra protein coming your way with that contest win of Vega in a few weeks too.

I woke up very sore from yesterday's workout, but that did not stop me from going at it again today. I took my time today and even took a power nap before running to the park to do my pull ups and dips.

I snapped a couple shots of my back and biceps. It is nice being able to focus on my arms this week, and I'm seeing a lot of progress here. I'm very curious as to how heavy I will weigh in on Friday when I get back to the gym.

Oh and of course I will be performing my Push Ups, V-Sits and Bodyweight Squats before bed.

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